1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an apparatus for rolling a tubular fabric article such as a surgical drape into a toroidal roll for storage and application to a patient extremity.
2. Background
Certain types of tubular fabric articles are desirably formed into a rolled configuration so that they may be more easily stored and, upon application for use, unrolled as required. One type of tubular fabric article which is normally stored in a toroidal rolled state is a tubular drape for use in covering a patient extremity preparatory to and during surgical procedures. Surgical drapes are typically formed of a flexible material such as a knit fabric or a multilayer structure of knit and monosheet fabric. Such articles are desirably rolled into a toroid for convenience in storing the articles, to more easily maintain the articles in a sterile state, and to facilitate application of the article to a patient's extremity by unrolling the article from the distal end of the extremity over the area to be covered.
In the manufacture of tubular fabric articles such as surgical drapes the rolling of the article has heretofore been performed manually by placing the tubular article, after fabrication, on a mandrel or the like and manually rolling the open end of the article onto itself in a toroidal fashion until the article is rolled substantially toward its closed end. Accordingly, there has been a long felt need for apparatus which is capable of forming tubular fabric articles and the like into a toroidal roll wherein the convenience of storage of the article is enhanced, the sterilized condition of the article is more easily maintained, the tightness or size of the roll for an article of a given length is more closely controlled to facilitate packaging and storage, and the rate of production of such articles is substantially improved.